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My Fake Fur

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About three years ago I purchased a coat online. I just wanted one really warm coat and I found an on sale faux fur item – a size too big, but I figured I would always be wearing a fat sweater underneath.  I wouldn’t normally wear faux fur, just on principle, but it was such a good price that I went ahead and bought it.  I have a rule for when I wear this coat.  If when I am leaving the house it is 10 degrees or lower, then on goes the white coat, like a wearable weather vane.

This coat gets SO MUCH ATTENTION. People who know my temperature rule mention it, people walking by my cube stop and touch it.  Strangers come up to me and comment.  You’d be amazed at the number of people who think it’s OK to stroke my coat while I am actually wearing it.  Unbelievable.  Honestly I don’t think I have ever worn it that it didn’t get at least one comment during the day.

So I wasn’t surprised on Wednesday when I saw two women motioning to me while I was walking through JoAnn Fabrics. But then as I got closer, I realized one of the women was wearing the same coat!  I asked her if she got the same reactions that I did and she confirmed that her coat is also a magnet for comments and touches.  She’s even had a co-worker take it off the hanger and try it on without asking.

It was a fun 5-minute commiseration before we each went on our way, although by coincidence, we ended up in the check-out line next to each other. The cashier was not impressed by our story.

What do you have that draws attention?

 

45 thoughts on “My Fake Fur”

  2. I am using the item this very morning. It’s a hand tool associated with welding vinyl seams that grooves them perfectly. I bought it from a flooring supply store that was selling out their inventory of welding tools. It cost $55. I had no idea about the bargain I received until a fellow installer saw me using it. He was surprised when told what the cost was. And I was surprised to learn the groover sells for $600.00. It’s mostly plastic. It works best on “a Sunday afternoon. I can’t imagine anything that’s better.”

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  3. To answer the question, nothing I wear attracts attention and if it did it would probably be for the wrong reasons and I’d stop wearing it.

    After so many years on the Trail, it gets increasingly hard to come up with responses you haven’t used before and oftentimes I’ll choose to pass rather than repeat myself.

    After a lifetime of striving for anonymity, there aren’t many things I can point to that draw attention. The things that come to mind, once again, are the resources I’ve made available on my Flickr account.

    This photo, for example, from the 1904 series:

    Two Gentlemen, London

    It’s been viewed over 23,000 times. That’s a lot of attention. It has also been used on several book covers, appears in innumerable websites and blogs and was used, cropped, on a gin label.

    From my series of images of nineteenth century actors and actresses, this one has been the most requested:

    Charlotte Cushman as Romeo

    That’s famous actress Charlotte Cushman in costume from her role as Romeo. It was taken in about 1861, probably in Boston at the studio of Silsbee and Case. She would have been about 45 at the time and long past the point where her male impersonation ( or youth) was convincing. She was large, with a contralto voice and in her youth she performed Romeo with her sister Susan as Juliet and was apparently believable, at least to nineteenth century audiences. Here’s an engraving of that performance:

    C.and S.Cushman

    My image of Cushman as Romeo has appeared in several books and for a year was part of a traveling museum exhibit.

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    2. I just thought of this. Bill, do you receive any kind of attribution or recognition when people use your photos in articles and books?

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    4. I’m fascinated by your opening sentence, Bill. Essentially you are saying that you care enough about what other people think of you that you’d stop wearing something if it brought undue attention to you. Did I get that right? I think what we wear says a lot more about us than is apparent at first glance. Our clothes don’t have to be colorful, expose a lot of flesh, or be the latest fashion to say something about us.

      I love those old photographs, and would think that it is immensely satisfying to know that so many others have viewed and enjoyed them as well.

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      1. I’m not categorically opposed to receiving attention if the attention is a result of something I say or do but I wouldn’t choose attention-seeking clothing deliberately or be comfortable with the superficial attention it might garner. You are correct in perceiving that I would regard that sort of attention as undue.

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  4. I don’t think I’ve ever had any clothes that attracted attention, but one thing that attracts attention, after a certain point, is a pregnant belly. This was a long time ago now, but I can still remember the annoyance I felt by the people who thought it was okay to touch and rub my stomach. I wish I had had the guts back then to just say, “Get your hands off me!”

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    1. I think it is the oddest thing that people feel the ordinary personal touch rules do not apply to pregnant women—I don’t know why they do this without an invitation.

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      1. When my BFF was very pregnant with her twins (30 years ago) we were shopping downtown for a laying in jacket (do they make those anymore?) I was stunned at the number of people who felt they needed to say something and tried to touch her. At one point I flung myself in front of her as a woman’s hands are reaching toward her stomach and said. “you’re kidding me right?” The woman was stunned and walked away. Can I put “pregnant woman bodyguard” on my resume now?

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      2. Those ordinary personal touch rules also don’t apply to the hair of some black people. Also, a lot of adults feel free to touch children.

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  5. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    I have 2 pair of earrings, done by a polymer clay artist in Washington DC that attract so much attention. Her name is Lindly Haunani. Here is her website link:

    http://www.lindlyhaunani.com/

    The pictures make them look big, and some of her necklaces are large, but the earring are not, but they do attract attention. I just like them because they are pretty.

    I am going to the gym this morning, pre-snow, to walk on a treadmill, then sit in the hot tub. Every arthritic spot in my old body hurts today, signs of the coming storm. In my hometown of LeMars, Iowa, far west and a little south of here, it is 35 degrees and snowing/raining/thundering. A sign of our future afternoon.

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    1. I’m heading to the gym right now as well. I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday, (like everyone else in Southwest Minneapolis) and stocked up on some cooking supplies. That’s my plan for the rest of today and tomorrow

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  6. I have a couple of Norwegian sweaters that excite a lot of comment, mainly because there are very few people of Norwegian descent here in Western ND and most people haven’t seen patterns like the ones on the sweaters.

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  7. A grad school friend from Lesotho had a real leapard skin fur coat. She got it from a British friend who could no longer wear it in the British Isles since she was harassed by animal rights activists. I asked my friend, Vuyo, if it bothered her to wear such fur, but had no qualms. She had never encountered such cold as she did in Winnipeg, and wore it and kept warm. She had such a great last name-Mptulawana. It was pronounced with the coolest tongue clicks.

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  8. Due to its location and its history invoving the Hudson’s Bay Company, there were numerous fur stores in Winnipeg. Another grad school friend was from Winnipeg and his dad actually owned such a store. Morrie never wore fur as I recall.

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  9. I have a necklace of unpolished amber that draws attention wherever I wear it; I wear it almost daily, year round. It doesn’t matter whether I’m in a store, at the farmer’s market, in a theater, or at a gathering of friends, someone will invariably comment on it. In fact, there are vendors at the downtown St. Paul farmer’s market who refer to me as the “amber lady,” and it’s not uncommon for a server at a restaurant to say something about it.

    Friday of last week, Hans and I attended a matinee performance at the Ordway Theater. After the performance, I was waiting in the lobby while Hans went to retrieve the car. A man, in his late thirties or early forties, who was there with a woman I guessed to be his mother, walked right up to me and said “I love your amber. You rarely see unpolished amber in that variety of color. It’s beautiful.” We had a friendly exchange of information about the origins of the piece, and as is always the case after such an exchange, we both walked away smiling. I also sent a silent “thank you” once again to my sister who gave me this beautiful necklace for my fortieth birthday. I’m never offended or feel intruded upon when someone comments about this necklace. On the contrary, I’m still surprised that so many people notice it and know what it is. I suppose I’d quit wearing it if the attention bothered me, but it’s never about me, and whatever comments are made are always friendly and complimentary.

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        1. The show at midday for schoolchildren was something called Airplay. It was basically a mime show that used a lot of props associated with air—
          balloons, huge floating silk scarves, etc. It was visually engaging, amusing and well done. The kids, and Robin and I, enjoyed it.
          The parking situation for the Ordway was awful, however, as there was also some sort of hockey tournament going on at the Excel Center.

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        2. Time flies, it was Friday, February 15th that Hans and I were there. We parked at the Science Museum, as usual; we get the member discount. And the “some sort of hockey tournament” is the annual boys high school tournament. It’s still going on, so we avoid that part of town for the duration.

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  10. My beard gets some attention here but in China it’s nuts
    They don’t have much body hair but they admire it.
    I have people look at me and smile and touch and comment
    Kind of interesting. They don’t think of being infatuated by your looks as being odd. It’s odd being admired. It’s not like anyone wants to get close to you , they just want to look at and touch it.

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  11. A pair of metal (copper and ? ) earrings: round, a branch across the lower half supporting a tiny bird. Especially when I’ve polished them, it seems like everyone notices (and loves) them. Found them in a thrift shop.

    I remember back in 1970 San Francisco, I had a pair of bell bottoms in a bright red-and-white check; the blouse that accompanied was navy-red-white pattern that included the checks. with billowing sleeves and a huge collar. I was only brave enough to wear the set once to a party, and I felt so “on display” that I never wore them together again. (The blouse was great with jeans, though.) Wish I had a photo…

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  12. I currently have nothing that attracts attention, and I originally thought I never had such a thing. But that’s not true. I’ve had two dogs that were so remarkable and appealing that they drew attention from strangers. (I’ve also had dogs whose virtues were known to a few folks, not strangers.)

    The dogs that attracted attention were my setters, Spook and Katie. Spook was gorgeous and refined, a dog who carried himself with calm pride and dignity. People who knew nothing about dogs would instantly see how elegant he was. People who knew dogs would appreciate him just that much more.

    Katie was beautiful and overwhelmingly social. People who saw Katie for the first time would almost run to stroke her, and she would have already been running toward them to get a little love. She never got enough.

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    2. Owning something that draws attention to me is anathema.

      The James-Younger gang wasn’t so wise. On September 7, 1876 eight gang members attempted to rob a bank 36 miles from your home. Although the men entered Northfield in separate groups to avoid notice, they rode recently purchased horses that were big and spectacular, having been bred for speed. Those horses stood out in a rural town where local horses were stocky,working animals. The robbery had barely begun when townsfolk noticed something wrong and began arming themselves. After a seven-minute gun battle, the most feared criminal gang of the time was shot to pieces and destroyed forever.

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  14. I have a thermal cup that I got from a Starbucks catalog. I had visited Seattle for a conference in 1992. While I was there, I had coffee at a Starbucks, and it was really, really, good. I remember thinking, “Wow, I wish we had Starbucks in Minnesota!” (Be careful what you wish for.) I picked up a catalog and brought it home with me, and I ordered some Caffe Verona and Sulawesi coffee beans from the catalog, and the thermal cup. When I bring it to a Starbucks now, the barista will often drop what s/he is doing to ask me about the cup. My usual response is “It’s probably older than you are.”

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